(Anat & Ethe) Planting the seeds of friendship

[lisais-fire619]

Anat was off on his own again. He walked down the beaten forest path as he had done so many other times but this one was a bit different. This time he didn't have a brother or sister accompanying him. Not that he didn't like his siblings or anything... he just found them annoying for the most part well except for Nobu she really wasn't. Although he was glad to have some time away from them, it wasn't very often that he got to go off on his own. He easily weaved his way in and out of the forest that his family resided in. It was a peaceful day, peaceful enough to affect Anat just a little. He wasn't as agitated like he normally was which he supposed was a good thing.  

[jinxgirl5]

Ethe stepped back and viewed the bluff critically. Hmmm, no, this one wasn't right either. She sighed softly and moved on.

For the last couple days she'd been wandering around the forest trying to find a good spot to settle. Around her neck was a vine necklace, from which swung little leaf packets that she had painstakingly crafted. Each packet contained dozens of seeds from particularly gorgeous climbing plants that she'd come across in her wanderings.

These seeds were the reason for her picky home selection. If Ethe had to dig out her dwelling with her own paws that was fine, but the spot had to be stable enough for her to do so or the thing would cave in on her. What she wanted was somewhere with a rough face, some large craggy rocks or something similar, so that her plants would have something to grow on. Once they got started she could build makeshift trellis' to guide the growth how she wanted, but they had to be able to grow over her home to start with. It was proving to be a difficult task, but as long as it didn't take more than a year Ethe was willing to wait to find the perfect place to plant her seeds.

As she walked Ethe savored the occasional warm shaft of sunlight that pierced through the green canopy, smiling as she listened to jovial birdsong and the rustlings of forest creatures going about their day. A great content filled her and swelled up until she couldn't contain her. She opened her mouth and sang while she talked, her cheerful soprano mingling with the birdsong.  

[lisais-fire619]

Anat kicked a pebble or two as he made his way toward the water sources his parents had found while searching for a den. It was up this rocky area. The water itself was surrounded by mineral stones to help give the water that extra 'oomph' or that's what his mother said. He knew it was to help him and his siblings as kits to make sure they were getting everything that they needed. He had to admit that he was glad she had found the area because he quite enjoyed the water and the climb to get to it. It help him keep in shape and let him know he wasn't lazy just yet. Off in the distance he could hear birds singing...but there was something else to.

Something he hadn't ever heard before and he would know what was around because he grew up in the area. It must be someone he decided but who? Maybe it was one of his aunts or uncles coming to visit with a cousin or two....if that were the case he'd better meet up with them and lead em back to where everyone was. He let out a sigh and headed off into the direction of the noise knowing he just lost his day to himself to his family once again.  

[jinxgirl5]

As soon as Ethe finished her song she launched into another, this time a lively sea shanty she'd picked up from some foxes that lived by the ocean.

"As I was a-walkin’ down Paradise Street, To me!
Way, hey, blow the man down
A pretty young damsel I chanced for to meet
Give me some time to blow the man down"

The song was a decent length, not too long or too short. She giggled once she finished, thinking about how much her parents would disapprove if they'd heard what she was singing. All sea shanties seemed a little inappropriate, but they were just so much fun to sing!

Ethe paused in a good beam of sunlight, soaking up the warmth while she wracked her brain for another favorite. Stretching luxuriously in the heat and feeling her relief in pliable muscles and popping joints, she piped out the beginnings of a third and started forward again.

((Here's the full song Ethe was singing [x]))  

[lisais-fire619]

The voice was getting louder and louder as Anat made his way towards it. They seemed to be singing some strange song that he had never heard of before. It sounded strange and from another place let alone time period. This puzzled his mind. Who on earth was it?

He had made his way through the forest and knew the owner of the voice was close at hand. He kept himself in the shadows the best he could so he wouldn't be detected in case it was someone unwanted. He peered around a tree carefully to find a white vixen with strange pink ish purple markings and a moon and wolf on her but. She certainly wasn't what he was expecting to find. He crept along slightly beside her. He was following to see where she would go.
 

[jinxgirl5]

"I thought I heard the Old Man say
John Kanakanaka too-ri-ay
Today today is a holiday
John Kanakanaka too-ri-ay"

Her second shanty wasn't as long as the first, and after that there weren't any more that Ethe remembered well enough that she felt like singing. She decided to give her voice a rest for a bit and just listen to birdsong again while she walked along to the next potential spot.

It was about the time she spotted a likely-looking bluff up ahead that Ethe began to feel like she was being followed. Whoever it was was very good for there weren't very many signs at all, mostly just a feeling. Once or twice she thought she heard the rustling of vegitation nearby, but that could have just been a forest animal going about its business. Ethe glanced up at the canopy and debated stopping to look, but decided not to in the end. She was curious, and if the watcher knew they had been discovered they might vanish.

((Song [x]))  

[lisais-fire619]

Anat held his breath as the vixen paused once again and glanced back in his direction. He was having one of those moment where he wished he was dark colored like his mother so he could blend better into the shadows than light colored like a his dad and stuck out like a sore thumb in the dark.

He watched her till she turned back and started walking again. He silently slipped out of his cover and carefully walked behind her, watching her tail bob and sway as she sang. He looked over her again and noticed a vine thing wrapped around her neck. He found that odd and wondered if it was poisoning her and that her odd behavior was a result of it. Normally he would have just walked off but his mother raised him well. He got closer before saying, "You know you sing such strange songs? I think those vines are poisoning your brain or cutting off your circulation." There he had spoken to her and was as polite as he could be.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Ah ha! Ethe was very pleased to have been proved correct in her suspcions. It wouldn't be the first time she guessed wrong, and she'd rather be paranoid than dismissive. If you heard followers even when there weren't any you were always prepared, but if you just figured you were hearing things and it was nothing but imagination then you could get ambushed.

At least this time her follower seemed to be friendly, if a little misinformed about plantlife and not a fan of sea shanties.

She slowed her walk down and looked back over her shoulder at the male, smiling pleasantly. "It's just simple ivy, not poisonous. I've been wearing it for so long that if it was a circulation problem my head should have shriveled up and fallen off by now." She lightly tapped the swinging leaf packets, showing that her necklace was long and loose.

"Those were just sea shanties I learned from foxes who live by the ocean. They're rhymic and silly, so they're good to sing when working to make time go by faster."  

[lisais-fire619]

Anat eyed her warily. There had to be something wrong with this girl he just hadn't figured out what. He stared at her while she spoke before he said anything. "So your wearing poison Ivy and say its not poisoned... I think it has affected you little vixen. Though I don't see why you would want to be wearing something like that around your neck. It could easily get caught on something and then you would choke to death. Also how and why did you travel to the ocean to here? They aren't even close."

 

[jinxgirl5]

"Ivy, not poison ivy," Ethe corrected patiently. "I think my necklace is made out of English ivy, though there's a lot out there." She paused to point at her neck. "See, no rash. I've been wearing this for months, if it was poison ivy I'd have a rash."

She started walking again. "I'm wearing it so I don't have to carry my seed packets around. I just tie new ones on my necklace as I get them, and that my paws are free." She laughed. "And because it's plant it'll break before I choke to death, but thank you for your concern."

She starting humming "Blow the Man Down" under her breath, tone cheerful.  

[lisais-fire619]

"They've gotta be related somehow. Both of their names are Ivy." Anat muttered under his breath feeling stupid now. He glanced around than back at her.
"You’re alone? You still never answered why you've traveled from the ocean to the middle of a forest. Why would you want to care around seeds?"

He moved a bit closer but was still far enough away that neither one of them good touch each other. "You do know your trespassing right?" He asked while examining her face.
 

[jinxgirl5]

Ethe tilted her head, looking at the male. "Of course it's related, it's all ivy. It's like the difference between a Davea and a normal fox. We're related, but last time I checked we weren't the same."

Now she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I didn't say something cause it wouldn't be your business? Why I do what I do when I do it happens to fall under my business. I don't go spilling my life story to every guy who asks, you know," she said calmly, facing ahead again.

"And no, I wasn't aware. I'm looking for a place to settle myself, not outst anyone from their home." She glanced over at the male. "Your territory? I didn't smell anyone until you showed up."  

[lisais-fire619]

" I suppose you're right," Anat said almost grudgingly agreeing with the analogy for the plants and fox. He didn't like to admit he was wrong even if he knew he was like with the plants. He really didn't know anything about them.

He stared at her for a while after she got done telling him that it wasn't his business and only hers. "Your right it’s not my business but it would have made for conversation and a simple answer of something like oh I'm just wondering would have sufficed."

"It's my parents land. More mothers’ but Dad reinforces her markings. It's where she decided would make a good birthing den and area to raise us. Though you are closer to the birthing den which hasn't been used since our birth so the scent is pretty faded but travel further and you'll run into it because that is the area more commonly occupied."

 

[jinxgirl5]

Ethe stopped walking, a thoughtful look on her face. "Really? Well I don't want to intrude on anyone else's home. It would be most rude to just suddenly take up residence, and when I find a spot I want to stay there." She gentled tapped one of her leaf packets. "I was going to plant climbs vines, and would have to have them started up and find I had to leave."

She looked up at the male. "Well, could you point me in the direction where I won't be on someone's territory?"  

[lisais-fire619]

"Yeah really." He said while thinking quietly listening to what she said and thinking on it. "Climbing vines you say? How do they like rocks?" He had a place in mind even though it was still part of his family's territory. He knew his mother had wanted to spruce it up but hadn't had a chance while raising six kids. He was sure his mother wouldn't mind if he let her have that small area.